Jun 25, 2023 |
Sunday Sermon
| The Rev. Jeanne LeinbachSunday Sermon
“Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose
their life for my sake will find it.” It is so hard to let go, isn’t it? We are
adept at controlling our lives. We love the security of being in control, of
having the dominion to achieve our wants and desires. Now, Scripture this
morning is telling us to lose our life in order to find it. All that control
that we hold so dear…we are being encouraged to let go. To let go, so we can
trust the path that leads to the fullest life. Let’s look at a few examples to
help us understand control and what it feels like to let go.
I’m going to start with an amusing story about myself – always good to be able to laugh at our own foibles. For more than 40 years, pregnant women have relied on the book What to Expect When You’re Expecting, which provides both explanation and comfort around the many facets of pregnancy. I still remember words of advice from this book. I remember reading about the importance of letting others help after the baby is born, because, of course, so much time and effort is-needed to take care of a new, precious life. Specifically, one suggestion the book makes is letting others load the dishwasher after a meal AND, most importantly, letting them load the dishwasher the way they choose to load it! Perhaps, some of you are like me….I do have a certain way of loading the dishwasher – in my mind it is logical and efficient. I’m guessing my husband, Gary, is smiling as I tell this story because perhaps he has seen me move around a few dishes after he has loaded the dishwasher. I really did try to let go in those days following the births of my sons, but, old habits are hard to break. I know I need to learn to trust that those dishes will get cleaned just fine however the dishwasher is loaded.
Another example around control that comes to mind is a great episode from the tv show Frasier. I still watch the reruns of this comedy – a great way for me to relax in the evening before I go to bed. For those of you who are not familiar, Frasier is about a psychiatrist, named Frasier, who has a radio show where people call in for advice. Frasier has a brother, Niles, who is a psychiatrist, also, but has a private practice. In this particular episode entitled “Shrink Rap”, Frasier is feeling a desire to going back to seeing patients, and so Frasier and Niles decide to go into private practice together. But, their sibling rivalry, which is quite comical, is so intense that the partnership is a disaster. So, they decide to see a couple’s therapist. The therapy does not go well. So, the therapist decides to try an activity to develop trust. One brother is to stand in front of the other and then fall backwards into his brother’s arms…a tangible example of letting go and trusting. Niles goes first, but he can’t bring himself to fall backwards. Then, Frasier tries, but he can’t bring himself to fall backwards, either. The therapist steps up to demonstrate, hoping he can convince them that they can do it. But, when the therapist falls backwards, Nile and Frasier are so busy glaring at each other in anger, neither of them catch the therapist and, so, he falls to the floor. Ah, but imagine, trusting…letting go…falling back, and being-embraced by loving arms.
I’d like to offer one more example, a timely example. When I arrived at St. Paul’s in the fall of 2015, we had an open Assistant Rector position. In December, I received a resume from a seminarian who would be graduating in May of 2016. That seminarian was Jessie Dodson. I interviewed her when she was in the area over her Christmas break and I thought, huh, I may have just hit the jackpot. I brought her back for a day of interviews with the Search Committee, Vestry and Staff, we heard her preach, and the decision was unanimous – I was delighted to make the call and offer her the position. But, she turned me down. WOW. I was SO disappointed. How to let go? How to let go when you think you have just the right candidate? Well, what happened? The Rev. Dale Grandfield happened. Dale interviewed for the position and joined us in May of that year. We enjoyed three years with Dale. And, in 2018, when the Rev. Rich Israel was retiring, Jessie was once again, looking for a position, and on the second round, we got her and have benefitted from and enjoyed her ministry with us for five years. It’s hard to say good-bye to Jessie. No one will replace her. But, someone new will come along. We will benefit from a new relationship, while being ever grateful for the time we had with Jessie.
Do these examples give some insight into the various ways we control life? Do they help us feel, to experience that letting go – allowing others to help, allowing others to lead, allowing a new path forward? We love the security of being in control, of having the dominion to achieve our wants and desires. We love the security of charting our own path, of controlling our lives to achieve our own measure of importance, or our own measure of success. But what do we lose in tightly controlling our lives?
We lose the ability to let God lead. God is-all-knowing. God knows beyond our wishes and desires. God knows beyond the limits of our sight. When we let go, and let God lead, we see new ways to love, new perspectives, new opportunities, new ways to appreciate life and one another. When we let go, we experience life in its fullness: the immensity, the complexity, the inclusivity, the possibility, the rightness. Christ came to show us this path forward. “Those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” We are-meant to let go, to be dependent on God – that is how we are-created. As a celebrated preacher writes, “God’s all-encompassing claim on our lives becomes our comfort” (Lance Pape, Feasting on the Word , Year A, Volume 3, p. 169). Let us let go and know that peace which surpasses all understanding. Amen.
I’m going to start with an amusing story about myself – always good to be able to laugh at our own foibles. For more than 40 years, pregnant women have relied on the book What to Expect When You’re Expecting, which provides both explanation and comfort around the many facets of pregnancy. I still remember words of advice from this book. I remember reading about the importance of letting others help after the baby is born, because, of course, so much time and effort is-needed to take care of a new, precious life. Specifically, one suggestion the book makes is letting others load the dishwasher after a meal AND, most importantly, letting them load the dishwasher the way they choose to load it! Perhaps, some of you are like me….I do have a certain way of loading the dishwasher – in my mind it is logical and efficient. I’m guessing my husband, Gary, is smiling as I tell this story because perhaps he has seen me move around a few dishes after he has loaded the dishwasher. I really did try to let go in those days following the births of my sons, but, old habits are hard to break. I know I need to learn to trust that those dishes will get cleaned just fine however the dishwasher is loaded.
Another example around control that comes to mind is a great episode from the tv show Frasier. I still watch the reruns of this comedy – a great way for me to relax in the evening before I go to bed. For those of you who are not familiar, Frasier is about a psychiatrist, named Frasier, who has a radio show where people call in for advice. Frasier has a brother, Niles, who is a psychiatrist, also, but has a private practice. In this particular episode entitled “Shrink Rap”, Frasier is feeling a desire to going back to seeing patients, and so Frasier and Niles decide to go into private practice together. But, their sibling rivalry, which is quite comical, is so intense that the partnership is a disaster. So, they decide to see a couple’s therapist. The therapy does not go well. So, the therapist decides to try an activity to develop trust. One brother is to stand in front of the other and then fall backwards into his brother’s arms…a tangible example of letting go and trusting. Niles goes first, but he can’t bring himself to fall backwards. Then, Frasier tries, but he can’t bring himself to fall backwards, either. The therapist steps up to demonstrate, hoping he can convince them that they can do it. But, when the therapist falls backwards, Nile and Frasier are so busy glaring at each other in anger, neither of them catch the therapist and, so, he falls to the floor. Ah, but imagine, trusting…letting go…falling back, and being-embraced by loving arms.
I’d like to offer one more example, a timely example. When I arrived at St. Paul’s in the fall of 2015, we had an open Assistant Rector position. In December, I received a resume from a seminarian who would be graduating in May of 2016. That seminarian was Jessie Dodson. I interviewed her when she was in the area over her Christmas break and I thought, huh, I may have just hit the jackpot. I brought her back for a day of interviews with the Search Committee, Vestry and Staff, we heard her preach, and the decision was unanimous – I was delighted to make the call and offer her the position. But, she turned me down. WOW. I was SO disappointed. How to let go? How to let go when you think you have just the right candidate? Well, what happened? The Rev. Dale Grandfield happened. Dale interviewed for the position and joined us in May of that year. We enjoyed three years with Dale. And, in 2018, when the Rev. Rich Israel was retiring, Jessie was once again, looking for a position, and on the second round, we got her and have benefitted from and enjoyed her ministry with us for five years. It’s hard to say good-bye to Jessie. No one will replace her. But, someone new will come along. We will benefit from a new relationship, while being ever grateful for the time we had with Jessie.
Do these examples give some insight into the various ways we control life? Do they help us feel, to experience that letting go – allowing others to help, allowing others to lead, allowing a new path forward? We love the security of being in control, of having the dominion to achieve our wants and desires. We love the security of charting our own path, of controlling our lives to achieve our own measure of importance, or our own measure of success. But what do we lose in tightly controlling our lives?
We lose the ability to let God lead. God is-all-knowing. God knows beyond our wishes and desires. God knows beyond the limits of our sight. When we let go, and let God lead, we see new ways to love, new perspectives, new opportunities, new ways to appreciate life and one another. When we let go, we experience life in its fullness: the immensity, the complexity, the inclusivity, the possibility, the rightness. Christ came to show us this path forward. “Those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” We are-meant to let go, to be dependent on God – that is how we are-created. As a celebrated preacher writes, “God’s all-encompassing claim on our lives becomes our comfort” (Lance Pape, Feasting on the Word , Year A, Volume 3, p. 169). Let us let go and know that peace which surpasses all understanding. Amen.